COST Action CA16121 - From Sharing to Caring: Examining Socio-Technical Aspects of the Collaborative Economy

The main objective of 'From Sharing to Caring' action is to develop a European network of actors focusing on the development of collaborative economy models and platforms. This COST action promotes a practice-focused approach and it will therefore contribute mostly to social and technological implications of the collaborative economy. 'From Sharing to Caring' action research agenda accounts for many of the socio-technical aspects present in the collaborative economy. It includes specifically the design of future technological platforms, the technical infrastructures, and their legal, ethical and financial implication. Thus, participating in this COST action would bring Luxembourg in the European network of actors working on the collaborative economy models and platforms. This participation would enrich current research on sharing economy in Luxembourg. Sharing economy is one of the postulates in the Luxembourg development strategy in the period of the Third Industrial Revolution (TIR Consulting Group, 2016). This strategy guide underlines especial importance of prosumers goods and social models. Participation in this COST action will thus also improve visibility of sharing economy potential for Luxembourg. Some of the recently collected statistics reveal the status of sharing economy in Luxembourg. In general, Luxembourgers are less engaged in the sharing economy than many other countries. For example, according to a 2015 survey of Luxembourgers by ING Luxembourg, 24% of Luxembourg residents know about the sharing economy, 33% would consider sharing their household appliances for money, 8.9% would be willing to share their holiday home, and 20% believe their participation in the sharing economy will increase (TIR Consulting Group, 2016). Participation in this CORE action would certainly benefit to promote sharing economy principles to Luxembourg residents or even to increase their participation if prospective platforms can be introduced in the coming years. As my ongoing research interest in short can be framed as new housing concepts that are based on sharing economy principles and housing pricing models (i.e. based on prosumers data). Being able to participate in this conference and more specifically in this working group already improve my intial paper for flexible housing project by receiving insight from different aspects especially legal issues related to new type of tenures. In addition to that, the general discussion on the postion of end-users (i.e. can they be traeted as consumers or only as prosumers) greatly benefit the understanding of my second project that deales with prosumtion data. Beside the very much appretiated cross-disciplinary discussion I would like to underline the created cooperation with Rovira and Virgili University at UNESCO Chair for Housing. We will work together on framing and creating "Flexible Housing" solutions.